Memory, chat search and Incognito

Open claude.ai in your browser and check the selected account before practicing. This chapter uses the Web interface. Control placement can change; local files are available only after upload or a supported connection. This exercise does not require installing Desktop.

By the end, you will find an earlier conversation, inspect a saved memory and start an Incognito conversation. Outputs below are illustrations, not recordings.

Chat search retrieves earlier content and may link to its conversation. Memory retains useful details for later work. Project knowledge is material you deliberately add to a Project. These are different mechanisms. None guarantees that every earlier fact is available or current.

Documentation checked on September 30, 2026 describes chat search on paid plans and memory on free plans too. Memory is enabled by default for Free, Pro and Max; organizational controls can differ. Check your account rather than following an old screenshot.

Open Settings > Memory. Distinguish Search and reference chats from Generate memory from chats. Older interfaces may place controls under Capabilities. Read existing Topics; you do not need to erase real memory for this exercise.

Pause keeps memory but stops its use and new generation. Reset deletes memories, including Project memories, and the documentation describes it as irreversible. Do not reset everything to fix one detail. Organization-wide memory changes can affect everyone, so leave administrator controls alone.

In a regular conversation:

For this exercise only, I prefer short progress updates to start
with what changed, then state what needs a decision.
Remember this structure preference, not temporary course facts.

If memory is available and enabled, inspect Settings > Memory for the saved detail. “I'll remember” is not a substitute for checking Topics. Do not use a secret or account number as test data.

Open a new conversation:

Draft a short progress update.
Source: Chapter 1 is complete. Chapter 2 is still under review.
A decision is needed: publish Chapter 1 now or wait for both.
Use my structure preference if available.
Do not add a date or a decision that was not provided.

Illustrative output:

What changed: Chapter 1 is complete; Chapter 2 remains under review.
Decision needed: publish Chapter 1 now or wait for both chapters.

That structure could follow from the request even without memory. Topics is stronger evidence than guessing from the writing style. If it fails, inspect settings and the actual saved preference before declaring memory broken.

Create a fictional conversation with a distinctive phrase:

In the Cedar-course exercise, we chose syllabus-v1.txt as the filename.
This is practice data, not a real organizational decision.

If chat search is available, ask in a new conversation:

Search earlier chats for Cedar-course and the syllabus filename.
Return the filename and a link to the conversation where it was stated.
Do not guess if you cannot find the source.

Open the reference and compare it with the original statement. The expected filename is syllabus-v1.txt, but a matching word alone is not verification. Search may return a similar conversation or an old fact. Without eligibility, find the practice conversation manually and paste the relevant excerpt.

Update to the Cedar-course exercise: the filename is now syllabus-v2.txt.
The earlier filename remains in history but is no longer current.
When I ask for the current filename, do not present v1 as unchanged.

Test a new conversation and inspect any relevant memory topic. Memory is not an exact source record for every decision. Keep important facts in a dated working document, and return to the original conversation when exact wording or timing matters.

The documentation describes separate Project memory spaces. Search inside a Project is limited to that Project; search outside Projects concerns conversations outside them. Do not assume another Project is accessible context. Current documentation describes memory shared by Chat and cloud Cowork, but not local Cowork.

Start a new conversation outside a Project, find the ghost icon and confirm the Incognito label before using fictional text:

This is a temporary practice chat. Help choose between these headings:
“Course update” and “What's new in the course”.
Use only information in this message.

The documentation says Incognito does not use existing memory or add to chat history or future memory. Finish using its close control. This does not erase regular memory or earlier conversations.

Team and Enterprise Incognito conversations remain subject to retention policies and may appear in organizational exports. “Not in my history” does not mean “nothing is retained anywhere”. Do not use it to bypass workplace policy.

Easy: inspect a preference

Add a non-sensitive structure preference and inspect Topics. Success: you can distinguish a visible saved topic from a preference inferred from an answer.

Intermediate: verify a source

Find Cedar-course and open its cited conversation. Success: the filename matches the original statement.

Challenging: update and scope

Change the filename to v2. Explain separately what exists in history, memory and Project knowledge. Success: the old fact is not automatically treated as current.

Remove the practice preference or edit it into a preference you genuinely want. Deleting a conversation does not necessarily delete memory generated from it; remove the topic separately when needed.

Missing conversation: check plan eligibility, chat-search controls, Project boundaries and whether it was Incognito.

Old fact remembered: correct the topic and compare against the current source document.

Paused is not deleted: distinguish Pause, deleting one topic and Reset.

Sensitive topics: Include sensitive topics is a separate privacy decision. This exercise does not require enabling it.

Convenient continuity is not a source of truth. For important actions, check the current source even when Claude says it remembers.